Individual Occupational Requirements for
GS-471: Agronomy Series
The text below is extracted verbatim from
Section IV-B of the Operating Manual for Qualification Standards
for General Schedule Positions (p.IV-B-73), but contains minor edits
to conform to web-page requirements.
Use these individual occupational requirements in conjunction with the "
Group Coverage Qualification Standard for
Professional and Scientific Positions."
Basic Requirements:
- Degree: agronomy; or related discipline of science that included at least 30
semester hours of course work in the basic plant sciences, including at least
15 semester hours in agronomic subjects, such as those dealing with plant
breeding, crop production, and soil and crop management.
OR
- Combination of education and experience--at least 30 semester hours in the
basic plant sciences, including a minimum of 15 semester hours in agronomic
subjects, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional
education.
Graduate Education: Agronomy, or one of the related disciplines or fields of science, such as plant
physiology, soils, or genetics, where the curriculum or pattern of training placed major emphasis on field
crops or agronomy. Graduate study in related fields, such as botany, plant pathology, and biochemistry
may also be qualifying, provided it placed a sufficient amount of emphasis on agronomy.
Evaluation of Education: Course work in such subjects as botany, plant taxonomy, plant physiology, plant
breeding or genetics, plant ecology, plant pathology, microbiology, agronomy, or those dealing with basic
soil-water-plant relationships of an agronomic or ecologic nature may be used to meet the 30-semester-hour
requirement in the basic plant sciences. Agronomy courses include agronomy, fieldcrops, field crop
production or management, soil and crop management, plant breeding and development, weed control, and
similar courses, including those in soils, biochemistry, plant physiology, etc., provided they dealt with
principles, methods, or procedures that are applied directly in agronomic work and in the solving of
agronomic problems.
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